部屋
へや · heya · JLPT N5 · noun
room
🚪🛏️ 部屋 = section + house: a room is one section of a house
部 (he) means a part or section, and 屋 (ya) means house or roof. A room is literally a section of the house. Sound hook: heya sounds like hey, ya — what you call out when you knock on someone's room door.
部 — 阝(邑) right + 咅 phonetic
The right-side 阝 derives from 邑 (city/settlement), giving the meaning of a region, district, or administrative division. The left side 咅 supplies the sound. Originally referring to a settlement, the meaning broadened to 'part,' 'section,' or 'ministry.'
屋 — corpse 尸 + reach/arrive 至
屋 originally depicted a place where one arrives (至) to rest under a roof, with 尸 here representing a covering or dwelling rather than a corpse. The character came to mean 'house' or 'room'. Today it commonly refers to a house or a room within a building.